


Holiday

by dakgalbis



Series: Happy Not Knowing [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Christmas Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28582395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dakgalbis/pseuds/dakgalbis
Summary: Hyunjin is surprised to see Seungmin staying in for Christmas, without any plans, and decides to stay in as well.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Series: Happy Not Knowing [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094327
Comments: 10
Kudos: 68





	Holiday

It was past noon when Hyunjin woke up. He only knew because of the glow-in-the-dark wall clock the previous occupant of the room left there and the sliver of light that slipped between the blackout curtains he installed last month. Hyunjin closed his eyes again and threw his blanket over his face. It was Christmas, after all, and this year, for the first time in a while, he had no plans for the day. Sleeping off the rest of the afternoon seemed like a good idea. 

His stomach, though, seemed to think differently. 

Hyunjin groaned right after his stomach did and slowly sat up in bed. He grabbed his phone and checked for new messages. Other than a stream of Christmas greetings sent via text, there was only one message from a university clubmate, reminding him of a Christmas singles mixer he just then remembered saying yes to going to. 

Hyunjin groaned again. Truthfully, he really wasn’t into such events, but he also didn’t like backing out of engagements he had already confirmed going to. Initially, he got the impression that it was to raise funds for an animal shelter in the suburbs, which was why he said yes, but he learned afterwards that it was just something his clubmates threw together just for the heck of it. At least, it wasn’t happening until the evening. Hyunjin would still have a few hours to eat and perhaps, watch a movie, before having to get ready for the event. 

He got off the bed and threw a hoodie lying on his desk over his shirt. His room was well-heated, but the sharehouse’s common areas were not. It was a pity. He was pretty sure he had the sharehouse all to himself today, and it would be nice to spend time outside his room by himself, but it would be too cold. He would just have to quickly heat up the leftovers he had in the fridge and eat his food in his room. 

Much to his surprise, though, there was a figure standing over the kitchen counter when he stepped out of his room. The cold air was filled with the scent of coffee as well. 

“Seungmin?” Hyunjin recognized immediately who it was among the three people he shared the house with. It was Kim Seungmin. He moved into the sharehouse around the same time as Hyunjin did, right at the start of the fall semester. He went to the same university as Hyunjin, but he was from the engineering department, while Hyunjin studied psychology. Perhaps it was because they went to the same school, but he was the one Hyunjin got along with the most among his housemates. Hyunjin was mostly civil towards the others, but Seungmin often seemed to be in the house at the same time as Hyunjin was, and they would often eat at the same time and chat casually about all sorts of things, or work on their share of house chores together. 

“Oh.” Seungmin looked mildly surprised as he looked over his shoulder. “I didn’t know you were here. I only brewed enough coffee for one cup. Sorry.” 

Hyunjin shook his head as he walked over to the fridge, right beside where Seungmin was standing. “It’s fine, I’ll just make my own,” he answered, chuckling. “I didn’t know you were here, either.” 

Seungmin briefly smiled at that and poured coffee from the pot into his mug and took a seat by the table, where a plate of toasted bread, fried eggs and a few strips of bacon were already waiting for him. Hyunjin, meanwhile, took out his leftovers from the fridge and shoved it into the microwave. He turned around to face Seungmin. 

“You just woke up as well?” Hyunjin asked, surprised. He knew Seungmin was usually an early riser. 

Seungmin nodded. “I was drinking with a bunch of classmates last night, so-” Hyunjin watched Seungmin’s shoulders rise to form a shrug that would finish the sentence for him. 

“Hungover?” Hyunjin raised an eyebrow in amusement. 

Seungmin chuckled quietly in response. “My head does hurt a little.” 

“It’s amazing you managed to make yourself breakfast in your condition, though,” Hyunjin laughed some more. “I’m virtually alcohol-free and all I can manage is to heat up leftovers.” 

“You should be thankful I didn’t burn the kitchen down then,” Seungmin laughed as well. At that point, the microwave’s alarm went off. Hyunjin took his food out and rushed to place it on the table. He had been planning to eat his food in his room, but that was before he knew Seungmin was around. The kitchen was cold, and Hyunjin could barely keep himself from shivering underneath his hoodie and sweatpants, but he didn’t mind. 

“I’m more likely to burn the kitchen down,” Hyunjin answered as he took a seat across Seungmin. “I hope you recover enough for your plans today, though.” 

“I don’t have any, and that’s a good thing, I guess,” Seungmin answered curtly before biting into a piece of toasted bread. 

Hyunjin blinked at Seungmin in surprise. “You don’t?” He and Seungmin hadn’t actually talked about any Christmas day plans, but Hyunjin was sure Seungmin would have one. Seungmin had never mentioned anyone, but Hyunjin could tell from their conversations that he had a lot of friends in his department he could go out with. He was also quite popular, too. When a couple of Hyunjin’s classmates found out he lived in a sharehouse with Kim Seungmin, they immediately asked to be introduced. It was difficult to imagine that Seungmin would have no one to go out with on Christmas day. 

“No. Did I mention having any before?” Seungmin asked, blinking in surprise as well. 

Hyunjin shook his head. “No.” He then went on to mix his reheated food with his chopsticks. “I just thought it was nice,” he found himself mumbling under his breath. 

“What?” Seungmin leaned in closer to hear what he was saying. 

“I mean, so you’ll just be staying here, then?” Hyunjin barely kept himself from stuttering. 

“I guess.” Seungmin paused with what seemed to be a brief frown on his face. “There’d be too many people out today anyway,” He then tilted his head a little to the side. “How about you?” 

“No plans at all,” Hyunjin answered swiftly, only to feel guilty a split-second later about lying. He genuinely wished he could just stay in as well. “Ah, actually, there’s this singles mixer I said yes to but I don’t really feel like going…” 

Seungmin raised an eyebrow at Hyunjin while taking a sip from his coffee. “Singles?” 

Hyunjin blinked rapidly, unsure what to make of Seungmin’s reaction. “You want to go…? I guess I can ask--” 

“No, no!” Seungmin waved a hand in front of him. “I’m just surprised to know you go to things like that. _Singles_ mixers, I mean.” 

“Ah well.” Hyunjin rubbed his nape, wondering what the slight edge in Seungmin’s voice when he said the word _singles_ meant. That would be strange, though. He was pretty sure Seungmin would have correctly guessed by then that he had been single all semester as he had never mentioned anyone. Perhaps, he was interested in going. His clubmates would have a field day if that was the case. “Only usually when they tell me it’s a fund-raiser thing. They told me this one was to raise funds for an animal shelter but I learned shortly after they got me to say yes that it wasn’t.” 

“Now, that’s annoying,” Seungmin remarked, wincing visibly. “So you’re saying they tricked you into saying yes?” 

“Well, maybe I misunderstood or something,” Hyunjin answered, shaking his head. 

“I can imagine they tricked you into saying yes so they can spread word that Campus Dreamy Prince Hwang Hyunjin would be joining them,” Seungmin said. 

Hyunjin winced at hearing the tacky nickname given to him on the university’s anonymous online message boards. At the same time, he found Seungmin’s theory to be plausible. Hyunjin was aware that he, too, was quite popular on campus, as much as he would rather not be. His clubmates had never been shy about asking him to promote their activities on his SNS accounts, the follower counts of which vastly outnumbered those of the club’s. Hyunjin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to push down feelings of annoyance in his gut. 

“I hate them sometimes,” was all Hyunjin said, sighing. 

“If you believe they tricked you then you have every right not to go,” Seungmin pointed out in a matter-of-factly tone. 

“I suppose you’re right,” Hyunjin answered. “If you want to go, though, we can. Engineering Department Dandy Guy Kim Seungmin’s surprise appearance would be the talk of the town.” Hyunjin gave a teasing smile. He wasn’t the only one referred to with a tacky nickname when people talked about him online. 

Seungmin rolled his eyes as he took a sip of coffee. “Please.” 

Hyunjin laughed. “You wanna go, though?” 

“Me? No.” Seungmin shook his head with a frown. 

“Ah… you sounded interested in it just a while ago…” Hyunjin trailed off, wondering how else to read the edge in Seungmin’s voice earlier. 

“Oh, no, I hate those things.” Seungmin took a bite out of his food before continuing. “I don’t like meeting people with the sole intention of deciding if I could date them.” 

“I’m the same,” Hyunjin agreed enthusiastically. He was glad to know Seungmin thought the same as he did. “I think it’s strange and unnatural.” 

Seungmin nodded in agreement while he sliced the food on his plate. “I don’t really like deliberately trying to get close to people.” He paused to take a bite of food. “I get close to people only when I just happen to spend a lot of time with them and it luckily turns out we get along and enjoy each other’s company.” 

“True. Like with classmates or neighbors, right?” Hyunjin replied with enthusiasm. “That’s how I got close to my high school friends, then I ended up dating one of them, actually.” Hyunjin grinned widely afterwards, thrilled that he and Seungmin were on the same page regarding this matter. At the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but note that he, too, just happened to spend a lot of time with Seungmin because their schedules coincided and they lived in the same house, and it luckily turned out they got along and enjoyed each other’s company. 

Seungmin laughed. “I have a similar experience. I was part of my high school’s journalism club and there was this senior I got assigned to do reports with often. We ended up dating for a while.” 

Hyunjin leaned in closer, genuinely interested. He and Seungmin always talked a lot, but they rarely discussed previous dating experiences. “Tell me more.” 

“There’s not much to tell,” Seungmin shook his head. “We dated for a few years until he had to enter the army. We agreed to break up because it was going to be three years until we’d likely see each other again.” 

“The army?” Hyunjin blinked rapidly, with the implications of that bit of information racing in his mind. Still, he tried to appear as calm as possible. “That’s sad. You dated for a long time.” 

Seungmin shrugged softly. “It couldn’t be helped-- Wait, you forgot to make yourself coffee,” Seungmin then stood up with his used dishes in his hands. 

“Oh, right!” Hyunjin immediately raised himself from his seat, but Seungmin was already standing in front of the coffee maker. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about the sudden change in topic. He liked what they were talking about, and wondered if the change was deliberate on Seungmin’s part. 

“I’ll make you a cup. I’m already done eating anyway,” Seungmin said, giving Hyunjin another brief smile. Hyunjin noticed the light from the small kitchen window bounce off of the high points of Seungmin’s cheeks, and found himself unable to refuse Seungmin’s offer. 

“Thanks, then,” Hyunjin answered with a small, sheepish smile, while he wondered what he could do for Seungmin in return. “I’ll wash the dishes afterwards.”. 

“You’re using disposable containers and chopsticks so you can throw yours out after you’re done eating. It’ll be unfair if I ask you to wash my dishes,” Seungmin pointed out while he scooped coffee into the machine. “This is just a cup of coffee, don’t worry about it.” 

“Fine.” Hyunjin went on to take a couple more bites. Seungmin then placed a cup of hot coffee in front of him. “Thanks.” 

“So are you going to that mixer or…?” Seungmin asked as he walked over to the sink. He briefly turned the faucet on then proceeded to scrub his dishes clean. 

Hyunjin pressed his lips in thought. He had already said yes, but he could always fake a cold. As much as he’d feel bad about lying, he told himself they lied to him first anyway. Besides, he realized he didn’t want to leave anymore now that he knew Seungmin would be staying home as well. 

“I’ll tell them I have a cold,” Hyunjin replied with a defiant tone, then looked over towards Seungmin. He saw the edges of the other’s lips curling up. 

Seungmin then laughed. “Will you be doing something else instead?” 

Hyunjin shook his head. “Like you said, there’d be too many people out today. I’d rather stay in.” 

Seungmin deposited his washed dishes into the drying rack beside the sink then turned to Hyunjin. “Want to order pizza and pasta for dinner then?” 

“We just ate brunch and you’re already thinking about dinner?” Hyunjin asked, laughing loudly. He then shoved the last of his leftovers into his mouth. 

“There’s only a few hours left until dinner anyway.” Hyunjin followed Seungmin’s gaze towards the clock on the wall and realized he was right, it was already three in the afternoon. 

“Okay, then,” Hyunjin answered with a soft chuckle. “I have a pack of beer in the fridge that would go well with those.” 

“Perfect,” Seungmin replied with a satisfied tone. “What do you plan to do until then, though?” 

Hyunjin took a sip from his coffee. “I’ll probably watch stuff on my laptop or something in my room. It’s too cold out here.” 

“Sounds like fun,” Seungmin answered from where he stood by the sink. He wiped the kitchen counter clean with a dishcloth. Hyunjin wondered what Seungmin was planning to do, but he figured Seungmin would tell him by now if he was willing to let Hyunjin know that. 

There was also another way of finding out. 

“Wanna join me?” 

Seungmin gave Hyunjin a small grin. “Sure,” he answered in a pleased tone that made Hyunjin wonder if Seungmin had been waiting for him to ask. 

\------ 

It wasn’t long until both of them were seated side by side on the floor of Hyunjin’s room, with their backs against the longer edge of the bed. Seungmin sat with his knees folded in front of him, while Hyunjin’s legs were crossed. In front of them was a stack of textbooks, on which the laptop sat at eye level with the two of them. 

“Anything in particular you want to watch?” Hyunjin asked Seungmin as he directed his laptop’s browser to Netflix. He had just finished sending a quick text to his clubmates that he was nursing a cold, then switched his phone to silent mode. 

‘“Not really,” Seungmin answered. “You just watch whatever you were planning to watch.” 

“I don’t really know what to watch yet, though,” Hyunjin answered with a chuckle. 

Seungmin playfully rolled his eyes and leaned closer to get a better view of the laptop screen. He came so close to Hyunjin that he could feel Seungmin’s breath against his cheeks. Hyunjin inched away, feeling self-conscious. 

”How about this?” Seungmin pointed to a romantic comedy film listed under the ‘My List’ section of the screen. 

“Oh, right, I’ve been wanting to see this." Hyunjin clicked on the movie then moved away from the laptop as soon as the screen darkened. 

Seungmin did the same. "I think it's on my list too, actually." 

"You like rom-coms, too?" Hyunjin asked, without attempting to hide how thrilled he was to know that. 

Seungmin let out a hum. "I heard this one's good." 

They both stopped talking as soon as the movie started. For the next hour or so, Hyunjin focused on the movie, or at least, that was how he tried to appear. Occasionally, he stole glances at Seungmin, who never seemed to take his eyes off of the screen. He watched how Seungmin's facial expressions would change with the events being portrayed in the film. Hyunjin found the edges of his own lips curling up. 

At one point, Hyunjin must have watched Seungmin for longer than he intended, because Seungmin turned his gaze towards him before Hyunjin could return his own one to the laptop screen. He immediately turned away, flustered. 

"What's the matter?" Seungmin asked in a whisper. 

"Oh, uh…" Hyunjin raced through his mind to come up with something to say. "I was going to ask if you wanted to move to the bed? My butt hurts after sitting on the floor for an hour now." Hyunjin let out a nervous chuckle, wondering as soon as he finished speaking if what he said was all right. 

"Oh, okay." Seungmin reached out to the laptop keyboard to pause the movie. He then took the laptop and sat on Hyunjin's bed with his back against the wall. Hyunjin, relieved that Seungmin didn't seem to have found anything to object to, followed suit. Seungmin handed him his laptop, which Hyunjin placed atop a pillow on his lap. Hyunjin then resumed playing the movie, only to realize that with the screen on his side of the bed, Seungmin would need to lean towards him in order to get a proper view of the screen. 

With Seungmin so close, Hyunjin felt heat rise up in his cheeks again, and was unable to concentrate on the movie. He knew, though, that he could move the laptop closer to Seungmin if he was truly uncomfortable, but he chose not to. Instead, he draped an arm over Seungmin's shoulders to give the impression that he was actually very much comfortable, despite the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears, Much to his relief, Seungmin didn't move. Hyunjin then figured he could rewatch the movie later if he really wanted to know what was going on. 

When the movie ended, Seungmin pulled away, and let out a sigh. Hyunjin did his best to not appear suddenly very relieved. “How did you find it?” 

Hyunjin blinked rapidly. He couldn’t form much of an opinion on the movie because he didn’t pay attention during the second half. “It started out quite nicely…” was all he could really say. 

“Yeah, it did,” Seungmin agreed with Hyunjin quietly. “And the rest...?” 

“The second half wasn’t able to hold my attention,” Hyunjin gave Seungmin a sheepish smile, hoping Seungmin wouldn’t dig into why he couldn’t focus during the second half of the movie. 

Seungmin pursed his lips then turned his gaze away from Hyunjin. “Same for me. Actually.” 

“Oh.” Hyunjin wondered if the movie indeed faltered during the second half or Seungmin was also distracted. If it was the latter, Hyunjin wondered if it was the lack of distance between them that distracted him, too. He quickly dismissed the latter thought as wishful thinking, though. Everytime he glanced at Seungmin, his eyes seemed glued to the screen. 

“Anyway, we should order food for dinner.” Seungmin’s tone was suddenly cheerful as he took his phone out of the pocket in front of his hoodie. “I know a good place nearby.” 

“Cool, I’ll leave it to you,” Hyunjin grinned. “I’ll eat anything.” 

“Eggplant parmigiana pizza it is, then,” Seungmin answered nonchalantly. 

“Wait, no, please!” Hyunjin laughed and reached out towards Seungmin, in an attempt to take his phone. “I wasn’t done talking yet. I’ll eat anything that doesn’t have avocados and eggplants.” 

Seungmin covered his mouth with one hand. “Too late, I checked it out already.” 

“Wait, seriously?” Hyunjin laughed, knowing that Seungmin was pulling his leg, despite the entirely serious look on the other's face. He was pretty sure he'd mentioned his severe dislike of avocados and eggplants to Seungmin before. His heart sank a little at the thought that Seungmin did not remember _that_. 

"Of course not," Seungmin answered with a loud chuckle, much to Hyunjin's relief. "Gosh, you looked so scared." 

"Did I?" Hyunjin laughed some more. "I knew you were kidding!" 

Seungmin raised an eyebrow. "No, you looked genuinely scared. I guess you hate them so much even the remotest possibility that you have to eat them scares you." 

Hyunjin playfully winced and gave a huge nod, effectively admitting that he was indeed scared. He wouldn't admit that it was solely because of avocados and eggplants, though. He had been more afraid that Seungmin forgot. "You read me so well." 

Seungmin scoffed softly and shook his head. "Not really." 

Hyunjin let out a soft chuckle, wondering what to make of that and how to respond. Over the course of the semester they spent as housemates, Hyunjin increasingly found himself in need of white lies and alibis to give to Seungmin There were times when Seungmin would catch Hyunjin staring at him, and Hyunjin would hastily throw an excuse that he was staring at the fortunately existent crack on the wall behind Seungmin. Or sometimes his tongue would slip and he would blurt out loud what he was thinking about Seungmin, just like in the dining room earlier, and he would pretend he said something else. So when Seungmin said he didn't find Hyunjin easy to read, he wondered if Seungmin was aware there were instances that he hadn't exactly been honest, or if he meant something else. Or if he meant nothing at all. 

Before Hyunjin could even come up with anything, though, Seungmin spoke again. 

"Potato pizza is fine with you, though?" he asked, with his eyes trained on his phone screen. 

"Yeah, potato pizza's great," Hyunjin answered, maybe a lot more enthusiastically than how he truly felt about potato pizza 

\---- 

The food arrived after half an hour. The kitchen had become too cold, so they both agreed to eat in Hyunjin's room. They only went out for Seungmin to receive the food delivery, and for Hyunjin to take out the cans of beer he had in the fridge. They rushed back into Hyunjin's room afterwards, scuttling as if they had stolen the goods they carried with them. 

They both sat in front of each other cross-legged on the floor, with their food and drinks between them. It had gotten a lot darker, so they switched on the night lamp on Hyunjin’s bedside table. The smell of pizza then filled Hyunjin’s room as soon as Seungmin opened the box. Hyunjin stretched his arms and rubbed his tummy, feeling hungry instantly. He opened two cans of beer and placed one of them near Seungmin, then took a sip from the other. 

“The beer’s too cold,” Hyunjin winced as he placed the can back on the floor. “I should have taken it out of the fridge earlier. 

Seungmin, meanwhile, was already pulling out a slice of pizza from the box and chuckled. “We can drink it a little later, I guess.” 

Hyunjin took his own slice of pizza after Seungmin and instantly took a bite. Truthfully, he didn’t like potato pizza that much, but he refrained from making any comments about it. This wasn’t the first time Seungmin ordered potato pizza in the sharehouse, though, so Hyunjin knew he liked it a lot. Instead, he thought of restarting the conversation. 

“Where were you last Christmas? If you don’t mind me asking, that is,” Hyunjin asked in between taking bites out of the pizza. 

Seungmin finished chewing before answering. “I hung out with some university friends and got smashed,” he answered, chuckling softly. 

“Gosh, I can’t imagine _you_ , of all people, getting smashed,” Hyunjin laughed out loud just as he was about to stuff the last bite of his first slice of pizza into his mouth. 

“Do I look like I’m immune to alcohol or something?” Seungmin asked, frowning but with an echo of laughter in his voice. 

“Yes!” Hyunjin exclaimed, reaching out to his can of beer to take another sip. “We’ve been living together for a semester and I’ve never seen you come home drunk-- or even tipsy. And in general, you always look so calm and collected that I can’t imagine what you’re like when you’re even the slightest bit drunk.” 

“I look like that?” Seungmin laughed some more, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. Hyunjin noticed that the tips of Seungmin’s ears had turned a bright shade of pink, but then he thought it must only be the lighting, or the lack, thereof, or the beer, though he actually wasn’t sure if Seungmin had started drinking already. 

Hyunjin gave a big nod. “Mhm, like you’re always on top of things.” 

Seungmin shook his head and then took a sip from the can of beer Hyunjin had set for him. “You haven’t seen me when I’m angry then.” 

“I can’t imagine you getting angry, either,” Hyunjin said before taking a sip of beer himself. 

“Ah, you weren’t home when I got into an argument with Jisung the other day,” Seungmin replied, referring to one of their housemates. “He left his clothes inside the washing machine. _Again_. He happened to be in the same room then so I called him out for it and he called me a nagger.” 

“That does seem quite unfair.” Hyunjin pursed his lips. “Was that the first time you called him out?” 

“Not really. I’ve called him out a million times already and he still leaves his clothes there.” Even when he was talking about something that made him angry, much to Hyunjin’s fascination, Seungmin remained seemingly calm. “I was so angry I raised my voice, then he raised his. There was an exchange that went on for a while until Yongbok came in and stopped us. Then I reminded Yongbok of the discarded chocolate wrappers he’d been leaving all over the apartment and Jisung found a reason to call me a nagger again.” 

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows in surprise. Seungmin was always soft-spoken, Hyunjin couldn’t imagine for the life of him what it was like for Seungmin to raise his voice. “I don’t know if I am wishing I was here at that time to watch that unfold,” Hyunjin said with a nervous laugh. 

“Well, if we’ll continue being housemates for the next semester, then you’ll probably see another scene like it,” Seungmin laughed. “If anything annoys me, I confront the cause right away.” 

“Really?” Hyunjin blinked in disbelief. Seungmin had not once confronted him throughout the semester. “I… you never confronted me, though. I never annoyed you?” 

“I guess not,” Seungmin answered and took a huge gulp of beer again. “You’re good at cleaning up after yourself so far, I suppose.” 

“I’ll make sure to keep it that way, then,” Hyunjin answered, laughing. He raised his can of beer to his face to hide what was probably a shade of pink spreading across his cheeks. 

“Has Jisung never annoyed you, though?” Seungmin asked as he pulled out another slice of pizza from the box. “He’s the worst, I swear.” 

Hyunjin laughed in agreement. “I called him out once for leaving his dirty dishes in the sink. He apologized and washed his dishes right then and there, but…” Hyunjin paused to let out a loud laugh. “The next day, the dishes were there again.” 

Seungmin rolled his eyes. “What did you do?” 

“I set his dishes aside and washed mine, then put his back in the sink,” Hyunjin laughed sheepishly. “It was the start of the semester and I didn’t want to cause trouble. I ended up having to do that a handful more times, though...” 

“What?” It was Seungmin’s turn to be in disbelief. 

Hyunjin waved a hand dismissively in front of him. “I didn’t think it was a big deal as long as I could get it out of the way of me doing my dishes.” 

“You’re way too nice,” Seungmin shook his head as he took a bite out of his pizza. 

“I wasn’t nice enough to do Jisung’s dishes,” Hyunjin retorted with more laughter. “Yongbok would have washed them, though.” 

“Fair enough,” Seungmin said, laughing along as well.”Yongbok is _too_ nice. Maybe you’re just the right kind of nice.” 

Hyunjin felt heat rise up his cheeks again and could only cough up a nervous laugh. Though he definitely liked hearing that, he wasn’t sure what to say to it. “Poor Jisung must be sneezing like crazy right now, though.” 

“It’s the least of what he deserves,” Seungmin sneered and raised his nose in the air. 

Hyunjin laughed out loud some more. “Yah! Jisung must have his reasons.” 

“You’re defending him?!” Seungmin raised an eyebrow at Hyunjin 

“No, it’s not that,” Hyunjin shook his head, despite realizing that was what exactly he was doing. “I was just thinking, maybe he’s busy?” 

Seungmin rolled his eyes. “Aren’t we all? But we find time to be decent human beings.” 

“Yah!” Hyunjin laughed out loud again, knowing full well that Seungmin wasn’t serious despite the blank look on his face. He truthfully loved Seungmin’s sense of humor. “Let’s talk to him together when there’s a chance, with Yongbok, too. Maybe that’ll work.” 

Seungmin briefly narrowed his eyes at Hyunjin, but eventually gave a nod. “I doubt it, but fine.” 

“You know what,” Hyunjin began. “Let’s forget about Jisung for now. How about we watch another movie?” He then placed his laptop on top of the bed, and used his less greasy hand to navigate through Netflix for their next movie to watch. He clicked on another romantic comedy film to display the details on the screen. “How about this one?” 

Seungmin gave a thumbs up sign, which was more than enough for Hyunjin to start playing the movie. This time, with eight cans of beer, two boxes of pizza and considerable distance between them, Hyunjin managed to concentrate on what they were watching, though he did continue to eat and drink, and steal occasional glances at Seungmin. The other didn’t seem to notice him; he looked like he was enjoying the movie way too much. 

When the movie ended, they both agreed to play another one, a historical thriller that was also on Hyunjin's list. When the opening credits started, Seungmin pushed aside one of the pizza boxes to move closer. Hyunjin guessed it was so he could see the screen better. A laptop screen could only be so visible from a distance, after all. The decrease in distance was significant enough, though, that Hyunjin found himself throwing glances at Seungmin throughout the movie more often. Despite that, halfway through the movie, Hyunjin pushed the then-empty second box of pizza aside and closed the space between them to just a fist’s distance. 

“That one was good,” Seungmin said as soon as the second movie’s ending credits rolled in a couple of hours later. By then, they had consumed all of their food and six out of the eight cans of beer. Hyunjin was feeling a little tipsy, though he was still far from his usual limit. He inwardly reminded himself to speak more carefully from here on in. 

Hyunjin nodded. “Yeah, I liked it a lot.” He stretched his arms out and yawned. "It was pretty exciting." He then went on to bring up the movie's penultimate scene, which was easily his favourite. 

Seungmin seemed to think the same and talked about what he liked about it. Soon enough, they were discussing the entirety of the movie. At some points, they were dead serious, as if they were to submit a paper about it for school, and at some points, they're making jokes about it and laughing out loud. Thankfully, there was no sign that either one of their housemates had returned home, so there was no need to worry about them bothering anyone. 

Seungmin then let out a yawn. Hyunjin glanced at the clock on his wall and saw that it was already two in the morning. 

"Oh, gosh, I didn't notice the time," Hyunjin remarked in surprise. 

“Are you feeling tired already?” Seungmin asked. "Would you be going to bed now?" 

"Oh no," Hyunjin shook his head. He was far, far from tired and he'd hate for Seungmin to leave and for the day to end. "How about you?" 

"More like feeling a little buzzed, actually,” Seungmin tilted his head from side to side, then threw the hood of his sweater over his head. “Let’s clean up now, though.” 

Hyunjin pushed himself up off the floor just as Seungmin did, then started gathering up the empty beer cans in his arms, save for the two they had left unopened. Seungmin, meanwhile, carefully folded the pizza boxes. They trooped out of Hyunjin’s room and into the kitchen, where they stuffed their trash into the appropriate recycling bins. They both washed their hands in the kitchen sink, with their shoulders lightly bumping against each other as they did so. 

Hyunjin was half-expecting that they were done and Seungmin would return to his own room after they finished cleaning up, but he instead followed Hyunjin back into his room and sat on the floor with his back against the edge of Hyunjin’s bed again. As soon as he settled on the floor, Seungmin reached for one of the two remaining cans of beer and opened it. 

Hyunjin sat beside him and laughed, but did the same. “You’re drinking more? You already said you’re feeling buzzed, didn’t you?” 

Seungmin let out a soft hum. “One more can won’t make much of a difference." 

“Gosh, your way of thinking can be dangerous, Kim Seungmin,” Hyunjin laughed. I’ll drink this one to keep you from drinking it,” He then reached out for the last can of beer to open it and take a huge gulp. 

“Wow, you’re using me as an excuse to drink more?” Seungmin raised an eyebrow at Hyunjin. 

“I only care for you,” Hyunjin replied with a teasing voice and a wink in Seungmin’s direction. 

Seungmin gave Hyunjin a brief grin and took a huge gulp of beer, then remained quiet afterwards. Hyunjin tried to come up with something to say, but gave up within seconds, thinking that it was okay for them to just sit there. He only had a few things he could think of saying right then, but he wasn’t sure if the timing would be right. Instead, he quietly drank, and glanced at Seungmin occasionally, whom he found to be looking right at the can of beer in his hand. 

“Is anything bothering you?” Hyunjin asked when he found Seungmin looking like that for the third time. 

Seungmin didn’t say anything and only emptied his can of beer, which made Hyunjin worry right away. Swiftly, he went through his mind through the day’s events for anything he could have done or said wrong. Seungmin had seemed comfortable throughout the entire day, however, and he remembered Seungmin said he would say it directly if he was annoyed. Hyunjin managed to slowly convince himself that he couldn’t have done anything wrong. Instead, he wondered if Seungmin was going through something else, and was trying to distract himself. 

“No, everything’s fine,” Seungmin said a few minutes later and briefly looked at Hyunjin to give him a small smile, before taking another huge gulp of beer. 

Hyunjin laughed softly. "Aren't you drinking a little too fast?" 

Seungmin only laughed along to that. "Maybe I am. I should slow down then." 

“So you can stay for longer,” Hyunjin found himself saying softly. He was fully aware of what he said in a split second, but he couldn’t bring himself to pretend he said something else. He meant it, and maybe after what had transpired that day, a small part of him had begun to think that it would be okay to express a bit of how he truly felt. “If you’re not tired yet, that is.” 

Seungmin didn’t answer that right away, and for a moment or so, he only looked at Hyunjin with, with his lips slightly parted in what Hyunjin guessed was faint surprise. Hyunjin then realized how closely seated they were to each other, and how there really wasn’t anything else he wanted to say. Rather, there was only one thing he wanted to do. 

Seungmin suddenly turned away, smiling, much to Hyunjin’s relief, at least. “That would be nice.” 

“Stay here for as long as you like then,” Hyunjin offered, trying to ignore the feeling of disappointment in his gut. 

“It’s really late, though,” Seungmin replied with a regretful smile. 

Hyunjin felt his heart sink, realizing that the day was inevitably ending. “Indeed.” He had plans for tomorrow morning as well; he would have to go to bed sooner than later. 

Seungmin then emptied his can of beer, while Hyunjin watched him with mild amusement. Afterwards, he crushed the can, then turned to face Hyunjin. 

“Thank you for today. It was perfect,” Seungmin said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. 

Hyunjin ordinarily would reply that he really didn’t do much, and underplay any reason for which he should be thanked, but the truth was, he loved what Seungmin just said, and he felt exactly the same way, They didn’t do anything particularly exciting, but just the fact that they enjoyed each other’s company for the entirety of Christmas day was enough. “Same for me. Thank you, too,” he answered, grinning from ear to ear. 

Seungmin gave Hyunjin a brief smile, then took a deep breath. “I… intentionally didn’t make plans today, actually.” 

Hyunjin blinked in puzzlement. “Oh?” 

“I didn’t make any plans, strongly hoping that you wouldn’t have any, either.” Seungmin then grinned briefly. “And I got lucky.” 

Hyunjin could only look at Seungmin, with the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears overwhelming him. It was difficult for him to believe the implications of what he just heard: Seungmin wanted to spend Christmas with him, and that Seungmin felt lucky it actually happened. When the thought finally settled into his brain a few moments later, Hyunjin found himself letting out a soft laugh. 

“I think I’m the luckier one here,” he said, grinning from ear to ear despite the heat in his cheeks. 

Seungmin let out a soft scoff and shook his head. “I should be going now. Good night.” 

“Good night,” Hyunjin replied, then watched Seungmin shakily raise himself from the floor. He extended an arm out for Seungmin to hold on to, but it seemed the other gained steady footing just in time. He felt relieved that Seungmin was still sober enough to stand on his two feet and to walk towards the door. Hyunjin debated with himself on whether he should stand up and go towards him, maybe coax him to stay a little longer, but then he decided he shouldn’t push his luck. 

As Seungmin had said, the day had been perfect, and there was nothing Hyunjin would like to change about it. 

\-- end 

**Author's Note:**

> Aha, if you managed to make it here, thank you for reading! This was mostly self-indulgent and I understand this might not have been the easiest fic to read. I started this with just a certain piece of dialogue between the two of them that played vividly in my head (which actually didn't even make it to the finished product...) and went on to write most of the fic without knowing how to end it. As a result, I understand it could seem like the fic is dragging its own feet and it goes very slowly. (I guess, it is also in a way intentional, because Hyunjin and Seungmin are also dragging their own respective feet with expressing their feelings for each other here, teehee.) Still, I enjoyed writing it and thought there'd be nothing to lose with sharing it. I also understand some might find the ending unsatisfying after all _that_ , but I do intend for this to be the start of a new series (in the same format as [Warm Blood](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972180)) and if time and my attention span permit, there will be more.
> 
> Again, thank you! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.


End file.
